Process of and apparatus for drying wood veneer or other substances



. A 1. F. HoPl-4 AND E. LAMBERT. PROCESS .0F AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING WOOD VENEER 0R OTHER SUBSTANCES.

IIIIIIIIIIIII 11.11) Nov 29 1915.

1&353591 a Patentedsept. 21, 1920.

` I 2 SHEETS-s HHHH 1.

1 X i nimm I h mmm/11W;

agg?

F. HOPE AND E.' LAMBERT. PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING WOOD VEN-EER OR OTHER SUBSTANCES.

Y APPLICATION FILED NOV. Z9, I9'I5. 1,353J59l ..1

Patenasebt. 21,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JOHN r. Horn ann nitro LAMBERT, or KANSAS CITY., missouri. y

rnocnss orv sinn .arr

attacca.

'To all 'whore ztimray conce/m:

Be it known that we, JOHN F. Horn and ERIC LAMBERT, citizens of the United iStates, residing at Kansas City in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new 'and useful linproveinents in Processes of and Apparatus for Drying Wood Veneer or other Substances; and we d o declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such asl will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to, a processof and apparatus for drying wood veneer or other substances that cannot be Asubjected to high temperatures or baking heats without injury, and has for its object to dry the veneer or other substance in a manner that will draw moisture therefrom evenly and without case hardening, checking or splitting.

More particularly the drying is effected by drawing large quantities of air properly tempered and under partial vacuum through the substance to be dried, to draw the mois-l ture from the interior to the surface of the substance by vacuum, so that the. surface remains moist until the interior is dried, and then carries oii' the moisturev in the current of air that flows about the substance.

ln accomplishing thesel and other objects of the invention we have provided improved details of structure, the preferred forms of which are hereinafter described and are y illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

wherein: Figure is a inmechanism.

ig. lV is an end elevation of apart of one of the drying racks, particularly illus-A trating the interlocking arms. 4 Referring more in detail to the drawing perspective view of a kiln constructed according to our invention, a'

s 1 v 1 designates a kilnhousing which is pref- A urns non Dnrine woon `vennen on. crm suiasraiicns.

lSpeciiication of Letters Patent.- Fatentd Sept', 21, 1920 .Application :tiled November 29, 1,915. Serial No. 63,9175.

the end 6, is an opening 7, -and located A within said opening isa radiator 8comprising a plurality of closely spaced pipes, all

of which are connected, through heads 9,

with a pipe 10 which leads to a steam or other heating fluid supply source (notk shown). l At the opposite endof the kiln iS- an ,opening 12 within which 'is'located an eX- haust fan 13, the shaft 14 of which is revolubly supported in brackets 15 on the housing and driven lby any suitable means,

here shown to be a belt 16 which runs over a pulley 18 on 'the fan shaft, to revolve the drawn through the'jradiator'S and, therefore, enters the kiln ina-heated condition, and the fan being of such capacity that it 4maintains a partialLvacuum within the housing when in operation, i l

At the delivery en d of the kiln housing,A

adjacent the radiator 8;, is an opening 20 which extends across the top 4 and is ,provided with 'a hinged cover` 21, and located at Y the opposite end of the kiln is a thermostatic regulator 22, the action of which-is governed by the temperature within the kiln. 'Connected with the thermostat Vis a cable 23 which leads forwardly over a pulley 24 on a bracket arm 25 that is secured to the housing and is fastened to the opening edge of the cover 21; the operation of the thermostat being such that when a predetermined temperature-is reached within the kiln the cable is drawn to lift the cover and expose the opening 20 so that air may be drawn therethrough, instead of through the radiator opening. As the air that passes through the opening .20 does not pass'throughthe radiator, itl will be of a lower temperature and will, consequently, lower the temperature withinthe i .When the temperat re has been ysuliicientlyA lowered byl thef'inliow offcool air through .the opening 20 the cableis again automatically let out, allowing the lid 2;,1'to partly or entirely close in order to maintain the required temperature within the At one Side of the kin, adjacent the ends,

are intake and discharging openings .Q6-27, @provided with doors 28-29 respectively,

through which the material to be dried is delivered to and removed from the kiln.

ln order that a maximum amount of material may be dried evenly and quickly we have provided the drying racks 30, each of which comprises a truck 31 that is supported by swivel casters 32, so that the racks maybe veasily moved about. Rising from near the rear edge of each of the rack trucks are spaced standards 34 and pivotally mounted on said standards are spaced arms 35, provided, at their free ends, with bosses 36 which are adapted for support on successively lower arms to evenly space the arms and retain same in horizontal position, so that one or'more sheets of veneer may be supported on -each arm independently of the sheets carried by other arms, and thereby avoid the stacking that would be necessary if all of the veneering were supported from the bottom of the rack.

rlhe bosses 36 are also 'adapted for engaging those on successively higher arms in order to support the arms in elevated position (Fig. 1V), it being apparent thatl when the arms are raised andthe upper arm is lowered into the under one, the bosses will engage and hold the arms extended, owing to the fact that the arms are pivoted on di'erent centers.

'llo facilitate the placing of the racks within the kiln and the removal of the same, we provide cars 38- 39 which are adapted for traveling on transverse rails 40 which are set below the level of the kiln floor at the door portions, to bring the car floors on a level with the kiln Hoor, so that the racks may be easily moved from the car to the kiln Hoor and vice versa.

As a means of moving the drying trucks from the cars and also for moving the trucks through the kiln, we have provided, at each side of the kiln, a conveyer comprising chain belts 42 which run over palred sprocket wheels 43-44 on shaft/s 45-46 that extend across the kiln adjacent the rethat when the Shaft is rotated by the belt 47 to move the upper part of 'the chain forwardly or from thereoeiving toward the delivery end of thekiln, the teeth 50 on the conveyer chains will simultaneously engage lugs 51 at opposite ends of the drying racks and the racks will be moved forwardly a definite distance.

rack

master ln order that. the air currents that are drawn through the kiln may pass between the layers of lveneer and avoid the walls ont the kiln, we have provided deleeting wings 53 which are hinged at intervals along the sidewalls and roof of the kiln housing and are adapted for turning air inwardly toward the center of ythe kiln, the wings being hinged to swing in the direction of travel of the racks, so as not to hinder passage ot' the racks through the kiln, and for automatic return to functional position under the exhausting air pressure.

Assuming that the kilnis constructed as described, the operation is as follows: A

drying rack is placed on the car 38, the

veneer is placed on the rack arms and. the car moved along the track into the kiln. When within the kiln the rack truck is moved sufliciently to allow the conveyer teeth 50 to catch the lugs 51 'at opposite ends of the truck, so that the' truck is moved from the car toward the discharge end of the kiln.

Other trucks are then brought up and moved onto the Hoor of the housing, pushing against the preceding trucks to forward same toward the discharge end of the housing. v

During the travel of the racks through the housing the fan isl in operation and draws air through the radiator and housing to irst heat the .air and then dry the veneer, the exhausting of the-air, as distinguished from blowing,insuring against travel of the air in channels and resulting in a circulation throughout the entire vinterior of the kiln,

the capacity of the 4tan being such that( it creates a vacuum in the housing-that tends to draw moisture out of the veneer or other substance, so that the outer surface is the last to dry and consequently does not case harden, check or split. l

During the drying operation the doors may be kept closed except when it is necessary to open them to insert or remove a truck, so that a constant or continuous operation of the kiln may be eected.

llt will also be seen that an even temperature may be maintained within the kiln, and, by use of the deiectors, thev air currents caused to pass through all parts of the kiln, so that the veneer may be evenly and quickly dried.

Having thus described our invention, whatwe claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

1. A drying kiln comprising a housing having openings in its opposite ends and having a transverse opening in its top, a. heating unit located in one of theend openist lll@ lll/5 i lat'or'for raising or lowering said' cover to admit air to the kiln, for the purpose set forth. v v. f v

2. In a drying kiln, the combination of a 5 housing having an air intake openi'ngA at one and yieldable in the direction of travel of said racks for deiecting air to the racks, and adapted for yielding when'engaged by the 15 racks to permit the racks to travel..

^ 3'. A drying kiln comprisinga housing having lan intake at one end and a discharge opening at the opposite end, a fan' located adjacent-the discharge opening for drawing air through'` the housing, racks movable through the housing in thedirection of the intakeopening, and wings pivotally mounted 'on thetop of the housing and depending into the' path of thel racks, whereby vthe wings may yield when engaged by the racks and automatically return to their functional positions, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we aix our ,signatures. 1 v

JOHN F. Hoen. ERIC LERT. 

